Seasons Of Love
by Jinxing The World
Summary: Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes... How do you measure, measure a year? A Series of Fiolee oneshots set on different holidays. Each chapter is a new story and takes place on a different Holiday starting with Christmas. (Fionna x Marshall Lee), Rated T for safety, Updates on or before each major Holiday.
1. Christmas

This is my new Fiolee story. Seasons of love is going to be a bunch of fiolee one shots based on the major Holidays. Chapter one is a Christmas story. I hope you enjoy it (though I apologize that it is so late)  
Disclaimer:  
1.) I myself am a Christian, so I wrote a Christmas story. It is not meant to offend anyone of a different belief system, and in all honesty if you are of a different faith and would be willing to tell me enough about one of your holidays I would be more than happy to tack a story on for one of your religious holidays.  
2.) I do not own Adventure Time, it belongs to Pendlton Ward.

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It was snowing in Aaa which wasn't much of a surprise to Fionna the human. It had been snowing for weeks. It was just a fact of life that came with the season's change. It was nothing that she hadn't been experiencing her whole life through. Though the entirety of the land being covered by snow did pose its problems, mainly in that attacks and kidnappings by the Ice Queen had increased two fold. She had seen the season as a way to expand the boundaries of her kingdom and claim even more unwitting and unwilling "husbands" than usual.

However, today had held no major crisis for Fionna the human. It was late, just an hour or so after dark, and Fionna was just returning to the treehouse holding a rather average size bundle of freshly chopped firewood in her arms. As she stepped inside the door of her home Cake promptly arrived from within to scoop up the load from the arms of her sister. "Thanks for taking my turn Fionna, honey." Cake said with a little swish of her tail as she brought the wood to their central hearth.

"No problem." Fionna replied with a soft smile to her best friend and sister. She was cold and tired from the hard work of wood splitting, but she did not regret taking on the job even though it had been Cake's turn to cut firewood. In fact it was one of her favorite chores to do. The solitude of a cool winter's night brought Fionna's heart nothing but joy and peace. The dark to her was not ominous but rather calming because unlike others, she feared nothing within it. In fact there was very little in dark or light that Fionna feared at all, and that which she did fear was found in her heart and mind.

"What took you so long girl?" Cake asked as Fionna as she removed her boots, hat, coat, and scarf at the door. Watching her sister finish her task and take a seat at their couch cake let her mind loose to curiosity. She was wondering why it had taken Fionna twice her usual time only to return with half as much firewood. She had been just about ready to go out and search for her when Fionna appeared at the door with wood in hand.

Fionna thought for a moment. She hadn't realized that's he had been out for very long. She supposed that it had taken her a little longer than usual, but didn't know it had been enough extra time to raise alarm in Cake. "Sorry, I guess I just lost track of time." She replied lamely with a bit of a shrug as her eyes wandered around the room. "I was thinking."

Cake sighed and shook her head, "You've been doing an awful lot of that lately Fi."

It was true. Fionna had been thinking a lot lately and about a lot of things. It was like she could not simply silence her mind. It was filled up to the very brim with thoughts, ideas, and things she could and couldn't explain. They swam around in her head like fish in a koi pond, seemingly random and sometimes bumping into one another. Half of the time she couldn't make heads or tails of her mind and why she thought about the things that she thought about or why she thought about them in the way that she did.

Cake heard no response from her friend and instead of prying she brought her a cup of tea. There was no helping Fionna when she was thinking, she just simply had to work her own mind out. She needed solitude, peace, and quiet, and so Cake gave ti to her as a good friend or sister would. Her only hope was that Fionna wouldn't get all "soul searchy" again. It was hell to get her to talk or even eat, drink, or sleep when she got like that. Sighing quietly she set the tea on the coffee table in front of the couch and went upstairs. Her last words before she was out of sight were "Tomorrow is Christmas."

Those three words stuck in Fionna's head and struck her like a ton of bricks. She knew that Christmas was coming soon, but she had been so busy that she hadn't had time to realize that the holiday was, in fact, tomorrow. "Oh my Glob!" Fionna said to herself as she rushed to look beneath the couch. She had been using it as a hiding place for gifts for about a month and yet as of recently all the gifts had been untouched. She had a gift for everyone and had for quite some time. However none of them were wrapped yet. It was a problem easily remedied by some paper, scissors, and tape, but she hated to think that she had forgotten all about it until now and would have likely forgotten if it weren't for Cake. She ran off to get supplies and realized that she had perhaps been thinking a little too much lately. If she had forgotten about her favorite holiday, what else had she forgotten? Nothing immediately came to her mind, however she knew that from that point on she would need to focus more on the tangible and less on the thoughts of her mind and the feelings of her heart.

It was a good plan in theory, something that would work on paper, but it was terrible in practice. Putting it into action was far more difficult than the concept seemed. She could hardly just block out her thoughts and put her emotions on hold, especially when she was surrounded by the reminders of her mind's fascination.

"Glob." She muttered underneath her breath as she tried to focus on the job at hand. Wrapping gifts nicely and neatly, like so many other "feminine pursuits", was a skill that thus far had eluded her completely. She supposed she should have spent a little more time in the kitchen with mom as a kid, and a little less time playing with the family sword in the dungeon with Dad. Cake had been pretty balanced with both and was now a fairly good cook who knew how to sew and play an instrument on top of the fact that she was a kick butt fighter. If it weren't for the fact that she knew it was better to do it on her own, Fionna would have asked Cake for help wrapping. However Cake was likely already asleep and it was rude to ask someone to wrap their own gift. She supposed she could have just asked her with help on the gifts for their other friends, but that hardly seemed fair to Cake after she had already wrapped all the gifts she had gotten for people.

With that in mind Fionna removed the box of presents from underneath the couch and took out Cake's gift first. It was a satchel of cat nip that Fionna could hardly believe Cake hadn't found yet. It was particularly fragrant, and Cake could usually smell it from a mile away. Fionna wrapped it up as she supposed that perhaps the smell hadn't permeated from the lidded box. She then followed suit with her gifts for the others. She had gotten a new beaker set for Gumball, a new controller for BMO, a cell phone charm for Lumpy Space Prince, a mane comb for Lord Monochromicorn, along with gifts for many of the other people in her life. She was fine and focused on the task until the very end. Though when she saw the final gift she was to wrap, her mind drifted elsewhere. To say that Fionna had never learned any "feminine" skills was incorrect. Of course Cake had learned more and was better at most things, Fionna still had a pretty good set of skills. She could cook some simple foods, could sew enough to repair things, and could clean well. There was one skill though that Fionna rarely let show. It was also the one feminine skill in which she out did Cake. She was rather adept at knitting.

Reaching into the very bottom of the box she pulled out the last gift and in response her mind went hazy with the thoughts that had ruled it in recent history. It wasn't overly fancy, but still it was extremely special to her. It was a long red scarf made by hand. She had worked on it night after night for weeks, painstakingly in complete secret. It truly shocked her that she had nearly forgotten about Christmas when a large part of what was distracting her was the thought of giving the gift to its recipient.

Running her hand over the soft interwoven yarn of the scarf made Fionna smile broadly. Would he like it? The thought swam in her mind along with a million others. Would he like it? Would it make him smile? Would he thank her? Each new question planted the seed for two new ones, and these were just a few of the topics of her musings. Truly they were the more mundane thoughts with the others being far more in-depth mentally, emotionally, and philosophically. Did he even think of her? If he did, did he do so as often or as much as she thought about him? She was growing up fast and as she grew she found herself focusing less on childish pursuits and more on the possibilities of her future. What did she want to do with her life? Could she be with him? It was a small but extremely important question. Morally, could she handle the age gap? It was rather large after all.

Absent mindedly she wrapped the gift and brought it, along with the other gifts to the Christmas tree that she and Cake had decorated about a week before. Fionna placed the presents down beneath the tree seeing that Cake had already done so. It was looking like Christmas in their home, but as of that moment Fionna wasn't feeling the Holiday in the way which she normally did. Looking at the brightly wrapped gifts, the tree's lights and Mom's ornaments did her no good. Not even the garland, holly, ivy, and mistletoe hanging about could help her get into the mood. It just didn't feel like Christmas time to her. As she walked back to the couch she supposed her bitterness was tied into the sheer fact that she had forgotten about the Holiday in the first place, because after all she loved Christmas, how could she forget about it?

Sitting on the couch she sighed and took the mug of tea Cake had set out for her into her hands. She sipped it sadly knowing it had already gone cold before it had even touched her lips. Sighing after finishing the mug, even though she hadn't wanted it at all in the first place, Fionna brought it into the kitchen. It was then that she heard it… a thump and a thud on the roof top. She was eighteen now, a big girl and far too old to believe in silly things like Santa Claus… or was she? For the first time in what seemed like forever her mind was cleared of the things that worried her so and instead it was focused on the sound. There had been a footstep type noise one moment, but it was gone the next, like whatever had caused it had simply floated away. No sleigh bells or a jolly "Hohoho!" was to be heard. Fionna sighed lightly and shook her head. It was silly to believe in children's tales.

"Boo!" Said a familiar voice from a mere inch away from Fionna's left ear.

Fionna jumped a bit but quickly recovered, calming herself and saying softly before turning around, "Marshall, what are you doing here?" She was blushing red all over and could feel it. Her only hope was that Marshall couldn't see it or tell that it was there.

"Yeah." He said hovering over her head until he turned to face her. "What were you expecting? Santa Claus?"

She blushed even more. He was embarrassing her in the way that only he could, in the way that made her feel both angry and tingly. She would never admit it to him but she knew that she secretly liked it when he teased her because it was akin to flirting and it made her feel special. She looked at him and tried to quell her emotions slightly. He was wearing a black jacket, his hair was a bit longer than usual and it was wild like always. She wondered how it would feel if she ran her fingers through it. It looked soft. She tried again to snap herself out of it. To regain control would be a near impossible task.

He was holding a package in his hand and he held it out to her. "Merry Christmas." He said with a laugh as he smoothed his hair back and out of his eyes.

"I think you mean Merry Christmas Eve." She said calmly after finally regaining the function of her voice. She walked away from him after this and to the tree where his present lay. She picked it up and held it out to him as well.

"Of course you didn't expect me to come when the sun was up, did you?" He asked as he took the package and handed her hers. "I mean I wouldn't be caught dead in the sunlight on a Christmas morning. It would kill me."

"The sunshine or the goodwill on Earth and peace towards man?" Fionna teased feeling more like herself than she had moments before. She took the package he offered her after handing his gift off to him.

"Both wise ass." He replied after a liberal eye roll. "I'm not cut out for all this goody goody happiness crap."

His cussing always both excited and surprised her. He always came off like a naughty young man who simply could care less when he said such things. She pointed at the package. "If you're not coming in the morning, why don't you open it now bad little boy."

Marshall looked at Fionna with a hard look for the first time since he arrived. Did she realize how sexy she was being tonight? He secretly loved it when she called him bad little boy, especially after the night so many years ago when they had sang together. He never really brought it up again because he would hate to ruin what they had. Though sometimes he wished she had truly answered "yes" when he had told her to admit that she was in love with him. Because after all that had happened in the past few years, he could truly admit that he loved her. "Alright if you say so." He said as he began to tear off wrapping paper. "Why don't you do the same good little girl."

And so she did , she tore off paper to reveal a small box, as he did the same to reveal a medium size box. They both exchanged an awkward glance at each other and laughed upon making eye contact. There was something in the air tonight and it was making them both a little off their games. Usually they would still be teasing each other incessantly, but for some reason they were getting down to business. "On three?" she asked with a light blush on her cheeks which would have bothered her more if his did not show the same.

"Yeah." He said with a head nod and started a moment later with the count down. "One… two…" He looked at her and smiled, hoping like hell she would like it and not just think that it was stupid, because at the moment, he felt like it was pretty stupid. After all, would she feel attached enough to him to even use it. He loved her, he knew he did, but that did not mean that she would reciprocate. Especially after all of the years she had spent chasing after a wad like Gumball who was too obsessed with himself to even see the chances he was wasting. "three".

Fionna lifted the lid of the box to find a small necklace within. It was on a silver chain and had very strange and unique looking markings on a silver circle suspended from the chain. It was both simple and beautiful. It was something that she was surprised to see him give her, what with the whole "vampire aversion to silver" and all. But never the less it was beautiful and she loved it.

"Wow." Marshall said in a hushed tone as he lifted the scarf out of the box. It was amazing and he already knew she had made it by hand. It was soft and warm and for some reason it was just what he wanted even though he had never even once in his life wanted one. There was love in it and he could feel it.

"Thank you!" Fionna said breathlessly as she lifted the necklace from the box. "It's beautiful." She said with nothing but pure adoration in her voice.

Feeling both proud and a tad awkward, Marshall floated over to her. "Allow me." He said softly, suddenly the perfect gentleman after just teasing her moments ago. He couldn't help himself. She made him that way. He caught up the necklace in his hands and placed it around her thin neck gently. It was lovely on her, even more so than it had been in the box when he had had it created. He explained it to her as he secured the clasp. "It's not real silver… it's a metal from the Nighto'shpere. The markings on it are my mark… it allows you to enter and leave the Nighto'shpere unharmed because it identifies you as mine. It'll keep you safe if you ever want to go there again, or if anything from there comes here. Not many people want to cross the vampire king." He felt silly about adding in the end part, however, she still seemed to like it, and he felt as if he had done well.

She smiled as she looked up at him. He had finished putting the necklace on her and they were once again face to face. She loved the gift almost as much as she loved him. She knew where she was standing and quickly pulled on the scarf he had placed around his neck. She was finally feeling the Christmas spirit. "Mistletoe." She said quickly, referring to the piece above them as she pulled him down to her for a quick kiss. The whirring in her mind quit as their lips touched, and for the very first time in a very long time, she felt as if everything was going to be fine. Every question was answered and there were no worries to be had.

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Chapter Two New Year's Eve should be up pretty soon!


	2. New Year's Eve

_**IMPORTANT**_:These stories are completely separate from one another, they do not follow any exact the events in the first chapter do not effect the second chapter. If there is an exception to this rule you will be told.  
I apologize that this chapter was also late, however I was having computer issues and could not post on time.

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Fionna sighed lying on her bed on a snowy winter's afternoon. Cake had already left for Lord Monochromicorn's second home in the Crystal Dimension. Everything in the house was silent, BMO was asleep and Fionna felt lonely. There were plenty of places she could go, plenty of events to attend, but she wanted none of it. There were three parties to which she had been invited, one in Lumpy Space, one in the Candy Kingdom, and one in the Crystal Dimension. They were all very prestigious events and everyone who was anyone would be there, however Fionna simply could not bring herself to care.

She didn't want to go to Morco's party because she knew that Cake wanted her alone time with him. Also the fact that it would be in the Crystal Dimension filled to the brim by Monochromicorns who couldn't help but crave the taste of human was a bit of a turn off. She hated to imagine how folk's so generally nice had likely had a hand in the near total eradication of her species. In fact she shuddered at the thought that perhaps her birth parents had been swallowed up by such people. It was sad, and dark and she just didn't want to think about it.

She huffed and flopped over in the bed. She supposed she could go to Prince Gumball's party in the Candy Kingdom, but lately she just hadn't been feeling thrilled about Candy Kingdom events. She was always there as a guest, but somehow she always ended up acting more like a body guard than anything. She hated to admit it to herself and knew that she could never admit it out loud without consequences, but she was rather sick of Gumball as of late. They were still friends of course, but she could use some time away from him, especially since her infatuation with him had faded.

Then of course there was the party in Lumpy Space. LSP usually threw a good party, but it was all so overly dramatic with him and his friends. She just couldn't handle it tonight, and so not wishing to go to any single party, lest to offend others, she lay on her blanket covered bed all dressed up with nowhere to be.

She sat up and let her legs dangle off the side of the bed. Running a hand through her hair, which had been liberated from her hat, she reran the day through her head as the sky outside darkened. How had she ended up alone on New Year's Eve when the entirety of the one's she loved and cared for were away? She shook her head and stood. "Maybe I should just suck it up and go." After all she was dressed up for the events on Cake's orders. Cake always found a way to make her dress up for parties, even when Fionna herself was deadest against it.

"Leave the sucking to me, Good Little Girl." Came a voice from the darkest corner of her bedroom. It wasn't even necessary for Fionna to look in the direction of the voice to know who it was. The voice was familiar as could be, and there was only one man that called her "Good Little Girl".

"Marshall how many times do I have to tell you to knock first?" Fionna said shaking her head lightly, refusing to look in his direction she face straight ahead.

"How many times do I have to tell you it's my house and I'll do what I like in it." He teased back referencing the letter M carved into the tree to claim it as his.

Fionna scoffed. He was a pain, he was a wad, he was all sorts of things that Fionna could not say in polite company, but he was also one of the few people in all of Aaa that Fionna trusted completely and totally. "You gave it to me, therefore my home my rules. Knock."

"I could always just take it back." He said flashing his demon eyes whilst hissing for a moment in aggression she knew he would never seriously take out on her.

"Save it Marshie I know you won't." She said with a chuckle, still not looking at him. She hadn't seen his eyes change, but she could feel them, she could always feel them when he went demon.

"Marshie?" He said with a chuckle. "You're the only person I have ever met who was unafraid to call me, The Vampire King of the Nighto'sphere, Marshie." He couldn't help but smile a bit at that. He liked it when she called him names, cruel or kind, it meant she was showing him emotion, something that few to no other people ever did.

"Well more people should start. After all, you're not that scary." She smiled enjoying teasing him. He deserved it after all for coming in unannounced; scaring her half to death by popping out of the shadows like that. "What did you come here for anyway?"

"To watch you get dressed obviously." He said waggling his eyebrows suggestively. She might not be looking at him, but he was definitely looking at her. She was clad in a little black dress with a white sash, her characteristic Maryjanes, a simple pearl strand necklace, and a rabbit shaped hair clip where her bunny clip would usually reside. It was all likely the work of cake. The dress itself was silk and dark as the night sky. He supposed she had donned it for some black tie affair at Gumball's place. Though if that were true he wondered why she hadn't left yet. It was about time for the event, knowing simply because he too had received an invite from the Prince also. Surveying her appearance further he saw that replacing her usual white knee socks was a semi-sheer pair of black tights that covered her feet and legs. His eyes followed the hosiery up her legs until they were lost under the hem of her dress and he could no longer catch sight of them. He smiled wondering if she could tell he was thinking about what was under that dress of hers.

Fionna blushed and finally looked up at the vampire, hoping he was kidding her. She was already embarrassed and conflicted as it was without Marshall Lee watching her dress and undress. "Seriously, like what? Are you here to invite me to another party? Just like everyone else?" Her tone was annoyed and upset as she spoke, and her blush was moving not only from her cheeks but also down her neck and to other parts of her body.

Marshall half smiled to himself. He liked making her blush. He wished from time to time that he could suck the red straight out of her cheeks when she blushed like that. It was so scarlet that it almost made his stomach rumble. Though he made himself focus, he was upsetting her, and that was the opposite of what he had come here to do. "Well party of one, yes." He said sounding rather unsure of himself as he spoke. "I'm hoping that maybe it could be two?" He hoped that he didn't sound too needy. He just was hoping that maybe this year she would be willing to spend her New Year's Eve with him. After all the end of the year was important to him, even as an immortal being, because even though he would live on forever, the lives of those he loved and cared for were finite… each passing year, each passing moment was precious. He just wanted to make another good memory before he couldn't anymore.

Fionna looked at Marshall intensely, cooling off and allowing the blush to subside from her cheeks. Had he really just invited her to spend time with him alone? She liked the thought of it. All she had wanted from the beginning was an intimate evening anyway. She wanted nothing more and nothing less than the company of a single person rather than a large crowd. She wanted to enjoy the Holiday with a friend, not a mob. "Well when you put it that way, yes." She said with a light laugh, "Just leave so I can get changed first, okay?"

He spoke before he could think, "No!" He then himself felt embarrassed. "What I mean is, it's fine, it's not formal or anything obviously, but you're dressed fine now… unless you want to change that is." He had dug himself a hole and decided to just drop the shovel before he hit bedrock and made everything worse.

"Ummm, okay." Fionna said with a chuckle. She knew he was embarrassed, but she chalked it up to payback and dropped it there. "I'll just grab my coat and we can go."

Shortly after the little bunny had grabbed her light blue pea coat, bunny hat, and white scarf Marshall had picked her up, walked outdoors and floated the two of them to his cave home. It wasn't a long trip, being only a mile or so away. It wasn't difficult for Marshall to carry her, she was light and being that he was unable to truly feel the cold of the winter winds and snow himself it was a comfortable journey.

Fionna found the trip rather enjoyable also. Marshall always carried her bridal style, but today he had held her especially tightly. She noticed that tonight, despite his usual teasing, he was acting rather kindly. After all he had had the consideration to not only invite her to go with him but also to ensure that she got there safely. He had felt warm to her even though he wore nothing more than his usual button down black and grey flannel, dark jeans, and converse. She had always thought that the dead or the undead in his case were supposed to be cold. However semantics aside she had enjoyed the trip and was now more than ready to enjoy their night together.

She stepped into his home, being let down from his arms, and was met by warmth and a familiar aroma. She removed her jacket, placing it on the iron coat rack just within the entrance to the building. She followed suit with her scarf. She paused before doing so, but ultimately decided to also remove her Bunny hat. After all Cake had spent so long doing her hair and the least she could do was show it off. Slipping off her boots to conclude her outer layer undressing she took a deep breath. Marshall's house always smelled heady and natural which likely due to the fact that it was in the center of a cave. However it wasn't a bad smell such as one would expect. In fact just the opposite was true. It smelled almost exactly like an evergreen forest. It smelled of pine, fresh earth and fresh crispness mixed with the scents that always seemed to be about Marshall himself. His scent was interesting, a mixture of scents that confused and pleased her. It was nearly maddening when she breathed it in.

Marshall interrupted her thoughts completely when he floated in behind her, shut the door and asked, "Want a snack?"

It took Fionna a moment to respond, "Um, sure I guess." She said walking into his living room settling into his couch. It was a simple black three seat sofa. Old, dusty, and threadbare in some places it was by far one of the most comfortable things she had ever sat upon. Her rear sunk into the cushions a bit as she relaxed, trying to remind herself to sit like a lady. It wasn't often that she wore a dress, of course she always wore a skirt, but her skirts always had a pair of shorts or spanks beneath them so that her modesty was preserved at all times. The last thing she wanted was a baddie to see as she sliced them with her sword was her panties. It was also the last thing she wanted to accidently flash Marshall; especially given the fact that she knew he would enjoy her mistake. She blushed at the thought of what his reaction would be. She knew deep down that she would enjoy it if he enjoyed it… not that she would let him know that.

Why would she think something like that? Her blush deepened until she was absolutely scarlet. She felt embarrassed and at the same time strangely comforted by the fact that she had made that realization. She had been thinking about him for a while and she knew she was beginning to feel attracted to him, but that thought was by far the most in-depth and revealing of what her heart and mind were saying.

Marshall could tell Fionna's mind was wrapped up in something. He knew her thinking face and he could tell from it, along with her blush that whatever she was thinking about was… interesting to say the very least. Usually he would pry, but tonight she was his guest, and he would try not to bother her too much. He didn't want her to leave.

Setting a black handled tray on the coffee table in front of the couch Marshall sat next to Fionna. He didn't bother hovering above the cushions as he normally did, wanting to be as close to her as physically possible. There was something in the air tonight, or perhaps just between them that made him want to be near her. It wasn't simply that it was the year's end that made him want to be close to her, it was also the fact that time was fleeting, ever passing, and he felt something for the little bunny that he had never felt for another being before.

"I brought a little of everything." He said pointing at the tray smiling because for once he had more than just apples and strawberries in the house. In fact he was rather prepared, having been planning this day for weeks. He supposed to her it had all seemed very sudden and out of the blue, but in all seriousness he had been thinking about inviting her over for weeks. The holiday just gave him the opportune time to do so. However the fact that it would be tonight had shocked him, he was just swinging by the treehouse to see if she was still there or was instead on her way to Gumball's. If she had been out, he would have attended the event himself, breaking dress code of course. However when he arrived at her home and saw her still there he saw his chance and seized it.

Fionna tried to quickly erase the blush from her cheeks and looked at the tray. There was a few cups of juice on it, some fruits, chips, and other snacks. Of course there was a cup filled with a thick red liquid to which she did not wish to know the source of, but that was for him. It was surprising to her that he had more in his home than just red which made her wonder how long he had been planning on inviting her. She picked up a rather juicy looking blackberry off the tray and popped it into her mouth. Where had he gotten blackberries in the middle of winter? She mused on the question for a moment as the juices of the berry exploded on her tongue, filling her mouth with the sweet taste. "This is amazing!" She said with a smile popping another into her mouth as quickly as she had swallowed the last. She was a sucker for fresh fruit.

"The best fruit in all of Aaa." He said with a smile, "But that's not where it's from." He had been hoping she would bring up the fruit. It was a secret of his he had always wanted to share. After all why hadn't anyone asked where he got his strawberries and apples before? Did they think that he just wandered around Aaa for hours looking for fruit? With the amount of red he had to drink on a daily basis he would be constantly hunting for it.

"Where's it from then?" Fionna asked, having a feeling that she in part knew the answer.

"The Nighto'sphere. " He answered. "I grow them in my garden."

Fionna, who was then sipping on a glass of apple juice, nearly did a spit take. "Your garden?" She questioned after she stopped sputtering and coughing. "You have a garden?"

He smiled. It was a secret for a reason. He didn't exactly want everyone in Aaa to know that Marshall Lee, fearsome king of the vampires and crown prince of the Nighto'sphere spent his spare time planting saplings, weeding, and watering tiny plants. He also didn't wish to let them know that he did so for pleasure as much as he did so for necessity. He had started with an apple tree, something to feed him in all of Aaa's seasons. The less fiery regions of the Nighto'sphere were perfect for growing things, volcanic soil grew plants quickly and there were no changing seasons. After he had planted his apple tree he found so much enjoyment in it he planted tomatoes, strawberries, and raspberries, only to find them all growing successfully in his small garden plot. Since then it had expanded and he now grew vegetables, fruits, flowers, and shrubs of all colors simply for the joy it brought him. He was extremely happy to see that Fionna had enjoyed the literal fruits of his labor. "How else would I feed myself in the middle of the winter?"

Fionna blushed a bit; she had never imagined him doing something as mundane and calm as gardening. She couldn't imagine him doing so, and at the same time imagined him doing so often. He had two sides and she was happy to see both coming out tonight. To answer his question she pointed at the cup from which he was drinking and grimaced slightly. She had just always imagined him hunting in the winter. Killing things and drinking the blood from their veins. Though she knew it was little different from her eating meat it still made her feel strange. Thinking of him, so nearly human at one moment, and then the next draining blood from an innocent creature until it went cold in his arms frightened her.

He knew what she thought looking into the cup. It did look a bit like blood he supposed, especially with the cup shadowing it a bit. "Here." He said handing it to her, "Take a sip."

Fionna nearly turned green as he held it out to her. "I can't drink that!" She nearly shouted, having a mini heart attack.

"Just try it." He said with a laugh. "Trust me it's not what you think. I promise."

He asked her to trust him. She had trusted him all night and so far he hadn't given her even a single reason not to. He was being truthful and kind so far, and she had a hard time believing that he would give her blood to drink anyway. Facing her fears and letting logic take over she took the cup from his hands, took a deep breath and let the fluid run into her mouth. It only took her a second to realize what it was, swallow it and quickly take a swig of her apple juice. "Marshall Lee you know I hate tomatoes!"

He nearly died again laughing, "Of course it's tomato juice! What else would it be, blood?" He knew that's exactly what she had thought it was. "I only feed on blood if I have to; it's like my least favorite shade to drink Fi."

Fionna blushed hot and red in embarrassment. She felt stupid for thinking it was blood when she had never actually seen him drink it before. "Sorry." She said roughly, feeling like a total idiot, "I guess I should have just asked."

He didn't want her to be upset anymore, as funny as it had been, and pulled her over to him slightly so that she rested at his side just under the crook of his arm. He stopped laughing and trying to be as serious as physically possible, apologized himself. "No, I'm sorry I shouldn't joke at your expense. I honestly forgot that you dislike tomatoes too, I was just trying to prove a point." He looked at her very seriously for a moment then added, "Drinking blood is something I would save only for an emergency or for intimacy. I dislike the flavor but I would probably enjoy the act when it's intimate. Like I hate that flavor of animal blood, like you with a tomato, but human blood or blood of a humanoid creature isn't that bad though. With a person it's like a finger print everyone's blood tastes different. I've never drank from a person though; it's something that's usually saved for special times and special people."

Fionna looked at Marshall, usually she would have thrown his arm off her but this time something was different. He was acting calm with her and even was admitting things about himself that she had never heard before. Usually he seemed to like to keep up the vampires drink blood façade, but now he was telling her the whole truth about what he really thought about drinking blood. It was far different from what Fionna had always imagined. "So you mean you don't kill the person you drink from?" She asked her voice low. He had called it intimate, meaning that it was something romantic for him, or perhaps even mildly sexual. Her blush didn't let up.

"Of course I don't, silly little bunny." He chided softly his voice smooth as it was when he sang. "I'd only take what I needed or what they wanted me to take." He smiled at her. Was she thinking about it? He certainly was and had before. He would love to pierce her soft white skin with his fangs, to drink her in and let her feel the side effect of his bite. Though he personally had never tried it he knew that the feeling would be pleasant for both of them. Someday if she allowed him to she would feel no pain and would instead feel something akin to a kiss. For him it would be the same except her blood would sustain him for far longer than the red he drank from food.

Fionna thought it over, would she allow him to bite her someday? Would she let Marshall Lee drink blood from her veins? It was too soon to tell, however one thing he had said intrigued her. "So you could tell me what my blood tastes like then?" She asked a smile, it was an odd thought that to him it would taste like more than just the metallic flavor she tasted if she got her blood in her mouth.

"Yes… do you want me to bite you?" He asked shocked by her willingness.

"Well not quite." She said quickly out of embarrassment. "I thought that maybe I could prick my finger or something and you could tell me…"

"Something light." He said quickly embarrassing himself also. He had said it quickly not wanting her to feel embarrassed anymore. She had a way of making him act strangely. When he was around her, alone like this, he felt like a teenage boy on his first date, nervous and worried. Physically he was still a teenager, but this was far from his first date if this really was a date at all. He had dated plenty of girls, but no one like Fionna.

"Light?"

"Yeah." He said taking the arm that was not around her and bringing it up to rub the back of his neck nervously. "You always have a soft scent, so it's probably a pheromone and from that I can guess your blood has the same type of flavor."

She smiled mischievously, "Would you want to?" He had made her curious.

"Umm, yeah if you want me to." He leaned forward to the tray and picked up the small knife he had set on it to cut up the fruit. "Do you want me to prick you, or can you do it?"

Fionna took the small knife out of his hand. "I think I can handle it." Holding the knife's handle in one hand she turned the point of the blade onto her finger, making a small pinprick from which a few small droplets of blood began to form. She set the knife down and held her hand out to him with the blood welling up. She wanted to see what he would do next.

Gently clasping the hand which she had cut, he brought it to his lips. "You sure?" He asked quickly making completely sure she was not going to protest at the last minute.

"Yes I'm sure", she said with a reassuring smile to him, "I'm curious now."

He smiled softly back to her before sliding her fingertip just beyond his lips and into his mouth. He sucked on her fingertip for a moment before feeling the drop of blood enter his mouth. It felt intimate to him, sucking on her finger. It was suggestive and as he was met with the flavor of red which her blood produced he wondered if she felt the same. He could feel her heart beating fast.

Fionna was absolutely crimson. It's only a finger; she desperately tried to remind herself as she felt him sucking. His mouth was warm and his lips were soft, his tongue slid over the pad of her finger, and then he was done, but the sensation just the brief touch had caused in her remained much longer.

"Lilac." He said simply looking into her eyes. She tasted delicious. He had never thought of lilac of a flavor before, just a scent, but in the case of her blood it was spot on and quite pleasant.

She smiled, "I love lilacs." He was looking into her eyes and as she looked into them in return she saw a warmness that usually was not there. She knew she was blushing harder than ever before, but she didn't care because in that moment things were just right.

The spell was broken when he looked away. "It's awhile until midnight. What do you want to do?"

She looked down quickly, trying to regain control over herself. "Well we never finished watching Heat Signature."

A few hours later the movie had ended and Marshall Lee was wide awake, however his guest was not. She was curled up in his lap gently snoozing away. Combing his finger through her hair as she slept Marshall chuckled. Fionna was the only person in all of Aaa that would fall asleep during a movie like Heat Signature. His fingers twisted into her hair, curling the long blond strands around his digits until the big Grandfather clock in his hallway struck twelve. "Happy New Year, little adventuress." He said softly, pulling her closer to him while resolving to taste lilacs once again in the New Year.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed chapter two! I may continue this one on to New Year's morning (which will also be late and will likely be up tomorrow morning, sorry!)


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